Electrical connectors having a pair of mateable electrical contacts of the type including a plurality of fine, axially-aligned wires, each having acutely angled forward end surfaces, are well known in the prior art. Several examples of such connectors and contacts are described in the Brush Contact Patent.
Such contacts are frequently rear-insertable into a housing having a forward mating face, in accordance with preferences in some industries (e.g., aircraft manufacturing). The rear-insertable contacts allow the housing to be positioned near the point of use with the contacts each assembled to a respective conductor elsewhere, then inserted into the housing.
In some applications, it is desirable to protect the electrical circuit formed between two mating contacts from moisture. Grommets, usually made of rubber and mounted to the rear of the housing with apertures aligned with apertures in the connector housing, are advantageously used to provide this moisture protection. The grommet includes rubber webs associated with each aperture, which webs are deformable to allow a contact to pass therethrough and resilient to provide a good exposed seal between the contact and the grommet.
Insertion of the exposed (unshrouded) wires through the grommet could lead to damage to the wires or the grommet. The fine wires might be bent during insertion, reducing their effectiveness as a current carrying element. The angled end surfaces, if exposed, might pierce the rubber webs of the grommet, reducing the moisture protection properties of the grommet.
The referenced Shrouded Brush Contact Patent discloses a brush contact with a removable sleeve or shroud which has the advantage of being insertable through such a grommet, while protecting the wires and the grommet. However, the use of such a shrouded brush contact did not solve the problem of providing a moisture seal for both of the contacts of a circuit or mated line, as the use of the disclosed shroud on two mating contacts would prevent the mating of the contacts.
Accordingly, in the present invention it was determined to provide the second contact with a shroud or sleeve having a larger diameter forward portion to accomodate a contact of the type disclosed in the Shrouded Brush Contact Patent.
The provision of a larger diameter forward shroud portion interferes with a forward stop which is positioned for retaining the contacts by engaging the forward shoulder of an enlarged medium contact portion. One such arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,398 which is hereby specifically incorporated herein by reference.
The mating of a pair of contacts including interfitting shrouds also presents a possible problem that the shrouds must be accurately aligned to telescope together without adding significantly to the forces necessary to mate the connector.
The foregoing and other limitations and disadvantages of the prior art will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the following description and the accompanying drawings.
The present invention is an improved electrical connector assembly having two mateable brush contacts. One contact has a smaller diameter shroud and the other has a larger diameter shroud. The connectors may be assembled with the contacts mated and the shrouds telescoped together, forming an improved assembly having good electrical characteristics with physical protection and moisture resistance when the contacts are inserted through a rear grommet. Such an assembly overcomes the limitation of the prior art electrical contacts.
The electrical connector assembly of the present invention is an electrical connector assembly (800) having first and second connector housing halves (200, 500), each having mateable brush-type contacts (100, 400) mounted therein. In the one connector half (500), the contacts (400) each have a shroud (430) which is of the type described in the referenced Shrouded Brush Contact Patent. In the other connector half (200), each contact (100) has a larger shroud (130) extending around and forwardly of the angled end surfaces (122) of the fine wires for receiving the shrouded contact of the one connector in an interfitted relationship. The interfitting shrouds (130, 430) provide physical protection for the grommet and the plurality of axially aligned wires during insertion of the contact through a rear-mounted grommet and protection for the mated wires.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the following description and the accompanying drawings.